JACKSON – He hates to sound like a certain NFL quarterback, but this really could be Norris Ashley’s last season as a high school basketball coach.

Ashley, who has been coaching at Ingomar for 39 seasons, said Wednesday he was 90 percent sure he would be stepping away from coaching and teaching at the Union County school.

“It will take a lot for me to change my mind,” said Ashley, who expects to make his decision a few weeks after the state tournament. “I hate to sound like Brett Favre there.”

Ashley leads Ingomar against Durant today at 2:30 p.m. in an MHSAA Class 1A semifinal at Memorial Coliseum.

He almost left the coaching ranks after last season when he had heart surgery in the summer. What drew the state’s all-time winningest coach – 1,661 career wins as a boys and girls coach combined – back to the sidelines was this year’s senior players, whom Ashley calls “basketball junkies."

“These seniors brought me back this year,” Ashley said. “I felt like they didn’t need a new coach to come in. I felt like it wouldn’t be fair to them if I didn’t come back this year.”

What will likely factor in his decision to leave after this season is the tremendous rebuilding process the program faces. The Falcons have only two sophomores and no freshmen on this year’s team.

“I’ll let somebody else figure that out,” Ashley said of the rebuilding process.

That statement is certainly understandable for a person who is “62 years old going on 90,” as Ashley often describes his age these days.

“I got a lot of miles on me,” the longtime coach said.

Ashley, who says he’s too old to still do a longtime passion of his, skiing, can still coach at a high level, and he’s two games away from winning his ninth state championship.

If Myrtle beats McAdams this morning and Ingomar defeats Durant this afternoon, then next Thursday’s Class 1A boys championship game will be a battle of the Ashleys.

The Myrtle Hawks are coached by Ashley’s son, Jonathan, and have beaten Ingomar four of the five times they played this season.

‘The old dog ...’

“It seemed like we almost conceded to them,” the Ingomar coach said of his team’s loss to Myrtle in Saturday’s North Tournament championship game. “I felt like the old dog that has been beat four times.

“They (Myrtle) almost got us mentally beat.”

And coaching against each other is never a joy to the Ashley family, because neither coach likes to see the other lose.

“I hate to see my kids lose and I hate to see his team lose,” Norris Ashley said of the mutual feeling he has with his son.

But the coaching veteran has warmed up to the idea of having a father-son coaching matchup in the Class 1A state championship game.

“I guess it will be a win-win,” the elder Ashley said. “It will be good no matter what.”

Contact John Wilbert at 678-1572 or john.wilbert@djournal.com